Navtej Singh, known locally as Neetu, did not make it back from his Saturday evening run. Two men on a motorcycle intercepted his Toyota Innova in Ladhuwal, blocked the vehicle, and unleashed a volley of 13 rounds. The violence was so precise, so cold, that it captured every second on the car's own dashcam. By the time he reached the hospital, doctors had nothing left to do but confirm death.
The motive, according to his son Alamjit Singh, is dirt simple: land. Alamjit, an advocate by profession, filed a police complaint naming eight individuals, including his uncle Pal Singh and the current village head. "They threatened us many times," Alamjit said. The family claims the two brothers are locked in a legal battle, with cases already pending in court, and that the violence was a calculated attempt to silence them.
Singh was not just a local figure; he was a former village head with a political tag as a Shiromani Akali Dal leader. The police have registered a case and launched an investigation, but the family is watching closely. In rural Punjab, land disputes often boil over, but a targeted hit on a political leader escalates the stakes immediately. The next 48 hours will determine if the police move quickly to arrest the accused or if the case stalls in the usual bureaucratic limbo.